# Accigar's Perfect Counterfeit Cohibas...Almost



## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

Welcome to the latest installment of the Habanos CSI Files. In this episode, I'm going to take a close look at what might be the most well executed, _almost_ perfect Cohiba counterfeit I've thus encountered. This cigar first came to light when accigar posted about it here. We communicated and shortly thereafter I had two of the cigars and the packaging headed my way. My sincere thanks to accigar for donating his specimens to the ongoing investigation of counterfeit Cuban cigars. It is only through the support and contribution of folks like accigar who have come across interesting specimens that this work can continue and flourish.

In another article soon to come, I will be describing my methodology of investigating and diagnosing counterfeits but one point is worth mentioning in regard to this analysis. Packaging is often the most important clues one looks for. A lone cigar presented without the context of its procurement or the packaging carries significantly less information on which to base an assessment of its authenticity. In recent cases of really good fakes, if I did not know anything about the packaging or where it came from, there would be no way to find out if was real or fake using non-destructive methods. It would have to be smoked or dissected. Counterfeiters are getting _that good_. This is one such case.

Now let's take a look at the accigar specimen.

*1. Overall Appearance*
We begin with a series of side-by-side shots comparing the ACC to an authentic Cohiba Pirámides EL 2006. At this point, I won't give away the punchline but I will say that the cigar that is on the left is always the same cigar except for one photo and that will be clear. In this first photo, we see a full length comparison of the two cigars. Construction quality is comparable, dimensions are reasonably in agreement and both the Cohiba and EL bands look pretty good. Let's take a closer look at the bands.

*2. The Bands*
Here are three photos of the bands on these two cigars showing the left to right progression. Do you see any significant and _meaningful_ differences in terms of lettering, printing, embossing, quality? If you answered "no" then you're right on. Any minute differences you do see are inconsequential and likely invisible to the naked eye. For all intents and purposes, these bands are identical and that's scary. Not only is the lettering identical, the rows of dots on the counterfeit are executed perfectly. This is one aspect where many counterfeit Cohibas fail and that is in the ratio of white dot to black background. Post 2003 Cohiba bands using the gold foil embossed band all have a uniform white-black ratio and this is something that the naked eye can readily discern. You'll see what I mean later when I present the _worst_ counterfeit Cohiba Pirámides I've ever seen.

Another key feature to look for is in the bronze pigmentation of EL band. Genuine EL bands appear to use a large flake pigment that has a characteristic "grainy" appearance. If the bronze looks smooth and uniform like foil or paint, then it is suspect. One point to keep in mind is that metallic flake pigments tend to settle out in the printing equipment and great efforts need to be taken to insure that the ink delivery contains a consistent amount of pigment throughout the printing run. This means that potentially, some bands could appear very heavily gritty while others might appear smoother. It's possible but I have not seen enough ELs to observe this variation. This type of pigment is different from that used in the gold border such as on Bolivar bands but is not hard to specify. In fact, JR Cigars uses an apparently identical ink on their Genuine Counterfeit Cuban Cigar, EL series. Tatuaje goes for the same effect on their Reserva and Cojonu year of issue sub-bands however they do not use the flake pigment and as a result, they resemble most of the bogus EL sub-bands I've seen.

***** Continued in next post *****


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

*Post 2/3*

***** Continued from previous post *****

And here are two photos of the Tatuaje Cojonu 2006 and a Cohiba Pirámides. The first one is taken at a low magnification to show what these two bands might look like to the naked eye. The second one is at a higher magnification to highlight the dramatically different pigment appearance.

*3. The Wrapper and Filler*
Moving on to a close inspection of the wrapper leaf, we start to see a divergence in the appearance and quality. In this first shot of the head region, we see a dramatic difference in the wrapper appearance but not the head construction. Again, this is troubling as fake figurados often have poorly constructed caps. Further, since the method of closing the head does not result in the appearance of a "triple cap" that is one less clue you have to rely on when investigating pirámides, belicosos, and perfectos. I'd also like to point out that the illumination you employ when inspecting cigars can play a big role in determining what you see. In this case, the photos were taken very close up and very close to a compact fluorescent lamp. The lighting is harsh and accentuates certain features. I will often manipulate the lighting to show salient details that might otherwise pass unnoticed under the low intensity illumination where most casual examination occurs. For example, I was recently given a few cigars to authenticate in a dimly lit tavern. Luckily I always carry a bright white LED flashlight on me.

So, which looks like the $25 Edición Limitada? Which one looks like the fake?

In this next photo, you see a close-up of the barrels of these two cigars. Aside from a slight difference in shade and a slightly rougher appearance in the cigar on the left, there is not much to differentiate the two. Both are only lightly veiny and both feel supple to the touch.

Moving on to the feet, we now start to see some differences that might be meaningful. Or, perhaps not. Aside from the circumferential wraps of tobacco that make up the wrapper and binder, the counterfeit does not seem immediately obvious. However, if you look carefully, you will see several sizeable stems in the filler bunch. Also, the bunching is quite non-uniform.

***** Continued in next post *****


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

*Post 3/3*

***** Continued from previous post *****

So, have you made a decision? Does one clearly pop out as the counterfeit? Or the authentic item? At this point, if I only had the fake to examine, my confidence that it was indeed fake would be approximately 25-50%. If I had a genuine item to visually compare against, my confidence would jump to 50-75%. But my actual confidence is in fact 100%. The two reasons are the scent of the cigar and the packaging. Accigar's cigar smells exactly like many of the well constructed Miami-based counterfeits I've collected. Instead of a rich, sweet tobacco scent, there is a distinct bitter leathery character. Very characteristic and completely unknown in any authentic Habanos I've ever smelled. The upshot is that not only is this a counterfeit, it is clearly not made with Cuban tobacco. The other clincher is that accigar's cigars came in this packaging:

Authentic Cohiba Pirámides EL 2006 ONLY come in varnished 10-count full boite nature chests. The cigars will look like this:

So there you have it. Accigar's counterfeit is the cigar on the LEFT.

Since I remarked that this was the _best_ counterfeit Pirámides I've ever seen, let me show you the _worst_. The following cigar was sent to me by a serviceman stationed in Iraq. It seems that a local had set up a stand selling Cuban cigars outside of the base. Among other things, there were these EL's in shrink wrapped bundles. The first photo shows the full body shot and close-up of the two bands. From a distance, the cigar doesn't look too bad. The wrapper is oily, supple and reasonably well applied. However, when you take a closer look at the bands, you can see all sorts of badness. First, the white dot to black background is way off. The dots are far too small. Second, the font in which "Habana, Cuba" is rendered is wrong. Witness the infamous penetrated top loop of the "C." But what about the EL band. Well, it does look sort of gritty, but aside from the lack of embossing, something else seems very wrong.

In this high magnification photograph of the EL band, you can see that it is in fact printed in halftone! It's not bronze flake pigment ink at all. However, you've got to love the extra effort these guys took to lighten and shift the print to make it "appear" three dimensional like a genuine emboss.

So there you have it. I hope you've enjoyed this little excursion into the fascinating world of counterfeit Cuban cigars.

Wilkey


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## yourchoice (Jun 25, 2006)

*Re: Post 3/3*

Wow! Great read, photos and information. THanks.


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## kvaughan (Jul 11, 2006)

*Re: Post 3/3*

GREAT read, thanks!


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## n3uka (Nov 13, 2006)

i guessed correctly but only because they were side by side.
If that was the only cigar in front of me, i would never had known it
was a fake.

Thanks for pointing out about the magnification. I might have to
break out my jewelers loop now.


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## Blaylock-cl (Apr 28, 2006)

Very informative post. 

As far as the smell is concerned, I was under the assumption that fakes can actually be produced using Cuban tobacco, which would make detection even more difficult. 

Thanks for sharing this.


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## StudentSmoker (Apr 24, 2006)

Dem's some good fugazi's. Good work 3x5card!


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## ikwanjin (Dec 28, 2006)

Counterfieters are gettn pretty good nowadays..

Nice detective work..


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## billybarue (Mar 20, 2006)

AWESOME POST!!! Thanks for the time invested to put this together - very informative.

BillyBarue


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## gvarsity (Dec 12, 2006)

That was an amazing presentation. I have had a half dozen ISOMs in my life and am not particularly concerned with trying to aquire more at this point and I still find this fascinating. I'm finding plenty to keep me entertained with the NC's at this point. When I get bored with NC's I'll start trolling  Until then I'll keep educating myself with gorilla wisdom so if I find myself facing opportunity I won't be parted from my cash by a fraud. Thanks again.


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## kvm (Sep 7, 2005)

Another classic post. Thanks, 3x5card.


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## SMOKESTACK (Oct 8, 2006)

WOW- is it real or is it Memorex. Now heres someone who knows how to use a camera!

Not to be demeaning or facetious, but i wonder if pursing cubans in America is really worth it. I never really understood what a person looking for a box of cubans (without a 100% garunteed source) would do, just buy and pray- then *IF* he or she receives the box -put it through endless tests only to find out it's not real.... -being that the statistics say that 95% of all cuban cigars in the USA are fake. At some point the money angle must get of control. I remember the thread where people were showing their Cuban tax stickers under UV light, In the end it seemed that most people (even though the correct markings were almost proper) turned out to have fakes. 
Some people actually (if i remember correctly) were testing more then one box. I began to wonder how many Cuban boxes do some people have "on stand-buy", and how does one rationalize the quest? Buying boxes "_in the dark_" these days seems to add up to a losing FISCAL proposition. I bet some people have spent enough money on fakes to buy plane tickets to London and hang out at a Hunters and Frankau Official merchant shop till they're green in the face.


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

Good work, Wilkey. And another great post. So when is the book coming out?


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## kvm (Sep 7, 2005)

whiteboard said:


> Good work, Wilkey. And another great post. So when is the book coming out?


:r I was thinking the same thing.


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## TechMetalMan (Apr 2, 2006)

Thanks for the wonderful write up and photos! I will certainly have to educate myself on how cigars are presented and packaged a bit more!


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## Moosie (Apr 25, 2005)

Is this a great forum or what? GREAT PHOTOS.


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## j6ppc (Jun 5, 2006)

Thanks Wilkey for another excellent expose.


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## The_Bombero (Dec 30, 2006)

Wow! Great work.


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## preludese111 (Jan 17, 2007)

Wow, great write up, thanks for the posts. I guess you learn something new every day here.


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## SDmate (Apr 24, 2005)

another excellent episode of Habanos CSI mate
what tipped me off to the left band being fake was the finish to the paper if you notice, the black on the left band looks flat & grainy while the band on the right seems to have a gloss finish
also the left bands overlap is lined up very well

still like you said damn good fake band, the best I've seen also


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

n3uka,
When one has two cigars side by side, one can see differences and that is the first step in identification. The second step is figuring out what to make of those differences and that is a challenge. I use a 10X lighted magnifier and a 10X measuring loupe for my examinations. These can be had fairly cheaply at Edmund Optical.

Blake Lockhart,
Another experienced member stated that there is actually a variety of non-authentic products. Just below the real thing are counterfeits made with good quality Cuban tobacco and proper dress and packaging. Below that are counterfeits made with poor quality Cuban tobacco and labels and boxes that are clearly not right. Parallel to this are the wide range of counterfeits made with non-Cuban tobacco. Keep in mind that a fake or counterfeit only counts as such when the intent of producing such a cigar is to deceive one into thinking it is an authentic item. Farm/apartment rolls do not fall into this category as such.

gvarsity,
I totally respect your point of view. One great attraction about studying Cuban cigars is that there is only one point of origin and there is one authority responsible for the top level oversight of the product. This makes it a much more, and I hesitate to use the word, consistent article. Certainly it is less diverse as compared to the hundreds and hundreds of non-Cuban products on the market.

smokestack,
Your angst is shared by many if not all in this hobby. Only the complacent exercise no vigilance whatsoever in terms of their supply or supplier. I think Moki provided some very good pointers in his thread here.

Hoyohio,
Unfortunately no plans for a book but soon you should be able to see all my work captured in one place in the *Counterfeit Cubans: Exposed!* project on Moki's Vitolas.net site. I've got many new works in the pipeline including mcoupe's unique glass tubed RyJ Churchills and a cross sectional study of counterfeit tubos.

SDmate,
You noticed two fine details. The paper gloss difference that you see there is actually an artifact of the illumination. I checked both and the real difference is imperceptible. In my years in paper and inkjet media development, I've probably done hundreds if not thousands of gloss measurements and this is a characteristic that is useful only if it is extremely different from the real thing. There is some offset in the band but I've seen that on authentic goods as well. There is also a slight difference in the thickness of the gold foiled frame around the word Cohiba. I can't say for sure how important that is. WIthout something to compare to, it would almost certainly go unnoticed.

Wilkey


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## fireman43 (Oct 15, 2006)

Great work and awesome post!! Thank you for taking the time to research and expose these for all of us Gorillas! Hats off to you Wilkey!


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## SDmate (Apr 24, 2005)

so tell us did ya smoke the Fohiba ??


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## accigar (Sep 19, 2006)

One big tip off that I'll bet 80% to 90% of fake come with: When asked "why so cheap?" The reply is usually "I have a friend who just came from cuba a few years ago and has family that works in the factories" or something similar to that. I think I paid around $11 and real are $27

And thanks Wilkey. Great job!

Any plans on smoking one of these?


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## OB1 Stogie (Sep 29, 2006)

SDmate said:


> so tell us did ya smoke the Fohiba ??


That is the real question....did you smoke it???? :cb Great read and great information. Like many of you, I think half of the ISOM pleasure is the search for the real deal and all that comes with the quest for the "forbidden fruit." Thankfully, we all folks like you to keep us well educated. THANKS!!!!


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

SDmate and accigar,
I have no plans to smoke one any time soon. I am pretty confident how these will smoke and I have a theory why that is so. I'm enlisting the aid of someone who has more experience in particular tobaccos to smoke these for me. I will update as that information becomes available.

That's right. Any "connection" may well be real. But the cigars that result from such a connection are almost certain to be fakes. Think about it. What would be less risky? Stealing cigars, tobacco, and packaging from the factory that is guarded by men with sidearms OR applying your rolling skills to tobacco and packaging obtained from someone you know?

BTW, I was recently asked about how I go about finding specimens to work with.

I am particular about the cigars I solicit for analysis precisely because time is so tight. When I contact someone to try and learn more about their cigars or to obtain a specimen, I am pretty sure they are counterfeit and that they have particular educative value. As a rule, I do not seek to go out and validate every "is this real" post out there. There are plenty of folks who are capable of handling the more common, obvious cases.

I've received unsolicited contacts from maybe 10 or 12 people and in all but 2 or 3 cases the cigars in question have been counterfeits. And those authentic cigars were obtained from what I would consider trustworthy sources. The upshot is that those folks did not have full confidence in their supplier or did not know enough to determine that the goods were real. In those cases, I'm please to do a little one on one teaching. Knowledge is a wonderful thing.

Every single one of the cigars that were obtained "from a guy" have been counterfeit. *Every single one.*

Wilkey


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## steelheaderdu (Aug 18, 2006)

Great info as usual. Definitely shows me how much I have to learn. I had the wrong one picked out from the start...

Thanks for the post!


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## dunng (Jul 14, 2006)

Great informative post! Thanks! :ss


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## accigar (Sep 19, 2006)

SDmate said:


> so tell us did ya smoke the Fohiba ??


I smoked a few of 'em and I really liked 'em. Smoked a couple to the nub.

Another thing that started me thinking these were fakes, was that every brand that I had bought, tasted the same. I liked the taste but I was thinking that the flavor profile was too similar from brand to brand. Some I had were Monte No.2, Siglo VI, Sublime LTD 2004, Hoyo De Monterrey Piramide LTD 2003.


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## SDmate (Apr 24, 2005)

accigar said:


> I smoked a few of 'em and I really liked 'em. Smoked a couple to the nub.


well h3ll that's all that matters :cb 
As Gerry says take off the band & yer got a custom rolled cuban:ss


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## bassrocker (Oct 26, 2006)

It goes to show , How important CS can be to it's readers.
And how important a reliable source can be .
I appreciate the time it took for you to do the research on this cigar.
We need more people like you at CS. Thanks,


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

3x5card said:


> Unfortunately no plans for a book but soon you should be able to see all my work captured in one place in the *Counterfeit Cubans: Exposed!* project on Moki's Vitolas.net site.


 Thanks for the heads up, Wilkey.

It's interesting. I did intuitively pick the left stick as fake, but didn't know why.

Have you read the book _Blink_? It's about the ability for many humans to almost instantly arrive at the correct conclusion without understanding the mental processes at work or even the reason(s) for their conclusion. There's a great example of how a counterfeit Kouros (ancient marble Greek statue) was validated and purchased by a famous museum only to be exposed as fake when shown to those in Europe -- such as archaeologists who had seen many real examples when they removed them from the ground. None of these people could say for certain exactly why the statue was a fake, but all of them _felt_ certain it was not authentic. After much scientific analysis, the Kouros was confirmed as counterfeit.


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## muziq (Mar 14, 2005)

Excellent post, Wilkey!


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## jitzy (Jan 7, 2007)

realy great post it makes you wonder where they got the bands and packaging from and what it would cost to make them. just seems like it would cost them alot that it wouldnt be worth it.:2


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## dayplanner (Dec 11, 1997)

jitzy said:


> realy great post it makes you wonder where they got the bands and packaging from and what it would cost to make them. just seems like it would cost them alot that it wouldnt be worth it.:2


Don't fool yourself. Counterfeits are BIG business.


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## NCRadioMan (Feb 28, 2005)

whiteboard said:


> Don't fool yourself. Counterfeits are BIG business.


:tpd: Really BIG!!

Great f'n post, Wilkey! Thanks!!


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## omowasu (Aug 9, 2006)

I wonder if the fake wasn't a chopped and rebanded Cojonu 2006? The wrapper color in your pictures looks similar to the Corojo wrappers on the Cojonu's?


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## xibbumbero (Feb 20, 2006)

Outstanding work 3x5card. X:w


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